


We Meet Once More

by TisBee



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: DWFicExchange, F/F, bill is soft, bit of angst, doctor meets doctor meets missy, everyones a bit confused, missy is my wife ok I love her, slight thasmin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-07-09 21:44:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19894816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TisBee/pseuds/TisBee
Summary: The thirteenth Doctor didn’t mean to see her past self. Or Missy for that matter.





	We Meet Once More

**Author's Note:**

  * For [house_of_oakdown](https://archiveofourown.org/users/house_of_oakdown/gifts).



“So, where to now?” The Doctor asked. They had just escaped a rather nasty encounter with some tree-like aliens. Apparently, the TARDIS hadn’t liked that, and had got out of there fast, inadvertently leaving team TARDIS stuck down there.

Luckily, they were able to get out quickly with no damage, apart from Graham, who was very tired out. “Somewhere calm for once?” He asked.  
“I’ll try,” The Doctor grinned, pulling down the lever. The TARDIS shook more than usual and the four of them were flung across the room.  
“This is slightly more bumpy than usual, Doctor.” Ryan said.  
“Oi!”  
“It’s a bit more than slightly!” Yaz shouted.

They were flung across the room and stayed down for a moment, unsure as to whether it was over. After a minute, they stood, dusting themselves off and glancing around, rolling their eyes. They were used to that by then. 

They landed with a thump, and the Doctor smiled. She walked to the doors, and pulled one open, poking her head out and looking around. She beckoned the others out, and they followed with an eye roll, watching her practically skip out into the sunshine, Yaz smiled, ever so slightly smitten.

“So, where are we, Doctor?” She asked.

The Doctor spun around to face her, and her smile fell. There was another TARDIS. It was her own, of course, but not exactly hers. Well, from another lifetime.

Her last lifetime to be exact. She stared at it, not exactly knowing what to do. Then Bill came out. Well, that decided things for her quite nicely. She hadn’t seen Bill since… well. She didn’t like to think about that. Bill often clouded her thoughts. Nightmares. Not that she slept much. Ryan’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

“Doctor? Why’s there another TARDIS? And who’s she?” he asked.  
“Well. That’s a bit complicated.”  
“We can tell, Doc.” Graham said, slightly in shock.  
“Doctor?” Bill asked, seemingly just as confused as the others. 

The twelfth doctor poked his head out, opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again. He hadn’t exactly meant to go there, but that’s what happened anyway. Why couldn’t the TARDIS help him stay cool in the eyes of Bill? 

The thirteenth put her hand up and gave a little wave. He nodded, taking in her rainbow clothes and rainbow coat and… that was a lot of rainbows. Was she the next one? By the look in her eyes, he guessed she was. Hm. It would be nice to be a girl. He’d never been one before.

The thirteenth Doctor wasn’t exactly wasn’t sure what she was meant to do. Talk? This was complicated. She sighed. She didn’t want to see Bill again. Not so soon. That wound was still fresh.

And she wasn’t exactly in the mood to talk with any of her past selves, especially not this one. He was the cool one. She was awkward, she’d quickly discovered. It took a lot longer to get coherent sentences out but she made do. She rubbed her face tiredly but stepped forward, nonetheless. 

She supposed she would have to explain. “Yaz, Ryan, Graham, this is Bill.”   
“How do you know my name?” Bill asked, understandably confused.  
Her Doctor cut in. “She’s me, or I’m her. We’re the same person.”  
“Remember how I said I used to be a white-haired Scotsman? Yeah, that was true.” The Doctor said.  
The other Doctor stepped closer. “I seem to have gotten significantly shorter.” He frowned.  
“Oi!” The Doctor cried out indignantly.   
“Still confused...” the others said, starting at various different times.

Then something exploded. Something was always exploding when the Doctor was involved. Bill had learned that a long time ago, and Yaz, Ryan and Graham were starting to realise nothing was predictable with her. One thing always happened though. It was never calming and there was always sure to be trouble. It was like she was a magnet for it.

It seemed like everyone was confused just then, but to be fair, what was new? Everything was confusing with the Doctor, both of them, even the Doctor themselves. It was so strange. They had all once led normal, boring lives but with Doctor life was the complete opposite. It also included a hell of a lot more running.

But all explanations would have to wait (they could stand for that, another thing they were used to). Both Doctors ran off towards the loud explosions, and their companions glanced at each other, rolled their eyes and set off. Trouble seemed to follow where they went, and they would never leave anything alone. Especially if someone could be hurt.

Goodness knew that they had too much kindness in their heart. Bill sighed and jogged towards the two of them. They seemed to be arguing about... something. She waved her screwdriver about, standing on her tiptoes, and he just laughed. 

“Alright, now is not the time!” Yaz exclaimed.  
“Quite right, Yaz.” The Doctor said gravely, examining the rubble and debris they were standing around.   
It seemed to have exploded in a perfect circle. Graham pointed this out, and both Doctors gave curt nods, seemingly deep in thought. “What if it’s an airborne manipulator?” The older Doctor mused.   
“No, it couldn’t be, the debris would be in less of a pattern. This is perfect.” Her younger self said.  
“Hold on, I’m still confused.” Graham said. The Doctor turned to face him.  
“My species have a way of cheating death.” She began.  
“Instead of dying we change our faces.” The other Doctor cut in (honestly, how was Graham meant to keep track of this?)  
“We are still the same person, in most things.” She continued, with only a slight glare at her younger self.  
“When we regenerate, that’s what it’s called, everything about us changes.”  
“It’s quite confusing sometimes…” she muttered. Her head shot up and she turned to the other Doctor.

A look of realisation crossed his face too, and they both started talking at the same time.

Bill rolled her eyes and gestures to the others to follow her. She wanted to find out more about them, about the new Doctor and whatever that meant and, more importantly, what happened to her. Anyway, the others seemed to be just as confused as she was.

She wondered absently what was going on, if she should help them out a bit. This was quite a worrying situation, and she didn’t want to intrude, but worrying situation. Then again, any situation with the Doctor was a worrying one, so what could she say?

She glanced at the two Doctors who seemed to be arguing animatedly about something or other, and she decided to leave them be. She turned back to the Doctors new friends and found she couldn’t think of any of her questions. She sighed and bent down to pick up a stray piece of rubble.

It was hot, and she dropped it with a yelp. Yaz (she presumed, she hadn’t quite caught which companion was who) bent down to touch it gently, then pulled her hand away. “So, how come you get the hot girl and I get grumpy eyebrows over there?” Bill asked.  
“Uh, I’m not exactly sure.” Yaz had flushed bright red and was staring at said ‘hot girl’. She noticed them all watching her, and her face brightened and ran over to them. Bill noticed how her beam seemed to grow bigger as she watched Yaz. She smirked.

Meanwhile, the two Doctors seemed to be arguing more than working out whatever had happened. Bill knew that it’d all be sorted out as soon as possible.

The Doctor wasn’t so sure. Which one of them? Both. 

Then a woman appeared. She had brown hair and was grinning maliciously. “Two Doctors? It’s my lucky day.” She said.  
The blonde Doctor’s eyes went wide. “Missy?” She asked faintly.  
“The one and only.” She said.

The other Doctor looked confused. “Who are you?”  
“You haven’t met her yet, have you?” She asked him. He shook his head.  
“I’m Missy. Short for Mistress. Short for the Master.” Missy told him triumphantly.  
“Have you met him yet?” The Doctor asked.  
“No, I haven’t.” Missy said.  
The Doctor cursed.

Bill glanced at her new friends, and they rushed over to see what was going on. Both Doctors were looking tense. They looked scared. The Doctor didn’t get scared. Stressed, sure, but not scared.

Bill was getting scared. She got scared usually, but this, this woman had some sort of past with the Doctor. And not a good one.

“You have new pets!” Missy exclaimed, and the Doctor turned to glare at her.  
“Don’t, Missy.” She said in a low voice.  
“Ooh! You’re getting defensive. You’re good at all that.”  
The Doctor gulped. “Why are you here? What did you do?”

Missy simply smiled and beckoned them all to goodness knew where. With a swish of her long skirt, she sauntered away. They all followed. What else could they do? Yaz had gathered that this woman, Missy, being here wasn’t a good thing.

And the Doctor seemed to know her. There was a kind of sorrow in her eyes, behind the sharp suspicion that Yaz decided she didn’t like. Those two women had history, and it didn’t seem like good history. All this set Yaz on edge, so she jumped when Missy rounded on her.

“You. Pet. We’re going to have a nice talk.” She said, and Yaz gaped at her.   
But before she could even begin to formulate any kind of sentence in her mind, her Doctor reached out and grabbed her hand. Missy grinned and willingly spun around to face her.  
“Why, hello there. Wasn’t it your wife who said hello sweetie?” she laughed, but the Doctors face stayed as thunderous as ever.  
“Where are you taking us, Missy?” She asked and the other Doctor gently took his older self’s hand away.  
“I’m going to show you something.” Missy told them, her voice quiet.

They followed her in silence, only looking at each other in confusion. The walk was long, and slow. Everyone was on edge, apart from Missy, who was whistling as she went along the path.

The two Doctors walked next to her, occasionally checking their friends were ok. “Doctor. I brought you here for a reason. You’re going to have to trust me.” Missy said suddenly, and then the three of them were gone, leaving just Yaz, Ryan, Graham and Bill.

The Doctors turned to glare at Missy, but found themselves in a completely new place. 

“Missy? What is this?” The Doctor whispered, as if she might disturb the peace.  
“You’ll find out.” Missy said, with a surprisingly gentle voice.  
“Where’s Bill?”   
Missy rolled her eyes, voice sharpening. “You’ll find out.”

She led them towards a small room. It was dim and enclosed, like a cage. The room was tiny. It was nothing like what they were used to. It was like something out of a horror movie.

“There’s something in there.” Missy told them.  
“Are you sure?”  
“Of course I am.”

The Doctor pressed a hand to the door and pushed it open. Silence. She glanced at Missy who nodded. Why was she trusting her? Because she knew that she would become good. Because she hoped… she didn’t know what she hoped. She missed her friend.

She stepped into the room, and a light came on. It was blinding, and she staggered back. It was empty. There was a table, with handcuffs on it, but nothing else. She looked at Missy, who seemed to be staring at something. She snapped her fingers and Missy jumped.

“I’m going mad.” She said with a feral look in her eyes. “Help me Theta.”  
The two Doctors glanced at each other. “You haven’t called me that since we were children.” He said in a cool voice.  
“No. I haven’t.” Missy said. She looked up. “We must go.”  
“Why?”  
“We must.” Missy replied simply and they were back, as if nothing had happened. 

She changed. The easy swagger was back, the grin, as if it had been a few seconds of normal. Whatever normal was for Missy. 

“We’re back. The others are a little further down. It was nice seeing you.” She blew them a kiss and sauntered away. Missy stuck in both of their minds, as they plastered on a smile and went back to meet their friends.

What in the universe had just happened? They glanced at each other, nodding at one another. It would be ok. Would they find her again? The thirteenth knew it would have to me a miracle, but at least she knew that Missy would turn out alright. She had that.

They wandered down the path, searching for them. The forest around them towered over them, dark shadows looming which nearly made them jump. The green trees seemed to shrink inwards as they walked, trying their hardest not to break into a run. They were getting worried and then…

The Doctor beamed when she saw her friends, not wanting to even think about what happened. She often didn’t want to think when Missy was involved. She supposed she’d have to think about it at some point, but now she had her friends. It was ok.

“So, we, I, worked it out! It’s all fine now!” She grinned, face lighting up, but there was a darkness behind her eyes. Bill noted how Missy had gone. Had the darkness been there before? Maybe.

A thought seemed to come to the Doctor then, and she turned to face Bill, a soft smile gracing her face. “Hello Bill.”  
“Hello Doctor. I was just wondering how I got grumpy and they get the cute girl.” Bill raised her eyebrows and watched as the Doctors face flushed bright red. “Anyway,” she glanced at Yaz, in a conversation with Bill’s Doctor, “You should so ask Yaz out. She likes you.”  
“No, she doesn’t.” The Doctor stared at her, shaking her head.  
Bill didn’t want to argue, and she didn’t want to mention Missy, so she just shrugged. “How are you and eyebrows getting on, then?”  
The Doctor scowled. “I’ve never really liked meeting my part selves, but I suppose I can’t exactly do anything about it.”

She hesitated then, did she ask about Missy? It was strange how one woman could confuse the Doctor so much. They had been friends once but that time was long gone. Sometimes she wanted to run away from it all. Well, that was her life, wasn’t it? Just running. She didn’t exactly know what from anymore, but she didn’t know how to do anything else anymore. 

“Life’s hard, isn’t it?” She asked quietly.

Bill nodded absently, watching as the Doctor turned to look at Yaz, a serene look on her face. Bill knew the Doctor by now, whatever form (and she thought she was being pretty calm about all this, but she always knew the Doctor would be the most alien thing she met) and she knew that the Doctor was absolutely smitten with Yaz.


End file.
